San Francisco 49ers CEO Jed York is being sued for age discrimination, according to Howard Mintz of the Mercury News. York fired former facilities manager Anthony Lozano and former head of video operations Keith Yanagi in 2011 and 2012, allegedly because the organization wanted to go in a technology-driven direction with younger personnel. The lawsuit is arguing the 49ers violated state and federal law.
Lozano and Yanagi were 56 and 59 years old, respectively, at the time of their oustings. York, 34, hired Gideon Yu as a chief strategy officer, who worked previously as an executive for YouTube, Facebook and Yahoo. The acquisition is being alleged as the beginning of York’s turnover within the 49ers organzaition. For the team, spokesman Bob Lange declined giving comment on the lawsuit when it was filed on Jan. 2 in San Francisco federal court.
“When asked why the 49ers wanted to hire these young technology workers, York said: “Because they made a lot of money, they did a lot of cool things before they turned 40 years old, and they don’t want to play golf six days a week,” court documents allege.
If the allegations are true, this is another problem in a laundry list of issues that have surrounded the 49ers in recent years. On the field, San Francisco is looking for a new head coach following the public power struggle between general manager Trent Baalke and former coach Jim Harbaugh. Plenty of 49ers players have also been in the headlines for all the wrong reasons, including Aldon Smith, Ahmad Brooks and Ray McDonald.
Smith was suspended nine games to begin the 2014 season because of violations against the Personal Conduct and Substance Abuse policies. Brooks was arrested back in June for allegedly hitting teammate Lamar Divens three times with a bottle before punching his face. No charges were filed in the case. McDonald was released in December after alleged sexual assault, following a string of other questionable behavior.
If the 49ers were hoping 2015 would see less controversy, they aren’t off to a great start.
